With Love Comes Time
by madisoncolfer
Summary: Darren is a time traveler, who finds himself in the year 2025 where he meets the famous actor Chris Colfer. They become inseparable. But months pass, and Darren is still in the year 2025, which only means one thing: he's grown attached with someone and fallen in love. And that person might not love him back. (Chris/Darren)
1. prologue

It wasn't his choice. Where he went, or how he got there, or who he met. It was just a thing that happened to him.

It was all just something that happened, and Darren had always been the kind of person to 'go with the flow'. But one thing he did notice was that he never stayed in one place longer than six months. At first he hadn't paid much attention to how long he had at one place—he just enjoyed himself. Journeyed around the time and place he had landed in, searching and learning new, wonderful things.

Such wonderful things, Darren would find. Fascinating things from the past and from the future; magnificent people, both from before his time and after his time. Wonderful discoveries, things he'd never felt before.

And none of that was his choice. It all just came to him, not unwanted, but as a shock. And what was to come for Darren next was going to be the biggest shock of them all, out of anything else he'd ever endured or discovered.

He was finally going to learn what love was.


	2. Chapter 1

Darren feels the familiar tug, as if someone was just pulling his pant leg, and he knew he was traveling somewhere else, somewhere new. The tug came as a shock at first, because he hadn't known what to make of it. An even bigger shock was finding himself in Paris in the 1920's, when he had been listening to music with his brother Chuck in the year 1976 just moments before. He'd panicked the first few times, but over the years he'd gotten used to that tug, knew what it meant—something new, something magical.

He's not sure where he's going to end up—he never knows—but he feels the excitement building up inside him, and he can't stop the grin from spreading across his face when he finds himself standing in the middle of a busy sidewalk, surrounded by people, talking, walking, _living. _He looks around him, looks at the new people surrounding him, and he takes in his surroundings.

He sees tall buildings, taxis, and people—_so many people. _Darren does a few turns, like he always does when he ends up somewhere new, somewhere fresh, and he spots a bookstore on the corner of the street. He starts walking towards the store, because what better way than starting out in a new place, in a new time, than reading some of the books? That's usually where Darren always starts out.

When he reaches the bookstore he looks down at himself, making sure his attire is at least a little presentable, and runs his fingers through his curly hair, shrugging when he looks at himself in the glass, realizing that this was as good as it'll get until he can find a place to freshen up. A bell sounds when he pushes the door open, making his lip curve up. He breathes in the scent, looking around and taking in the beauty of it all, of the shelves filled to the brim with books, books written by people from all over, people with so many stories to be told.

Yeah, Darren _really_ loves books.

He roams around the store, picking up books and looking at their published dates, trying to get a fix on what time he could be in. He sees years like 2018 and 2023, so he figures around there, but he's still unsure. He wonders around the store, picking up books and skimming a few pages before placing them back on the shelf, looking for someone he could talk to, find out where he is now.

Darren rounds a corner, on his way to the fairytale section, when he collides with another body. He doesn't fall, but he hears _something _fall and he immediately crouches down, ready to help someone stand back up. But there wasn't another body on the floor, and Darren feels a little bit better when he realizes it's just a ton of books scattered everywhere now. He begins picking them up.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to run into you," He says, standing up with most of the fallen books in his hands. For the first time his eyes meet with the person he'd ran into and the first word that comes to mind is _beautiful. _"H—hi," he says, clumsily handing over the books, trying not to break eye contact with the stranger in front of him.

The man takes the books from him, smiling. "It's okay. And, hello."

Darren laughs, shaking his head as he bends down to pick up the rest of the books on the ground. "Uh, here you go," He says, awkwardly handing the stranger his books back. He begins to walk off, trying to maneuver his way past the man, but gets stopped when a hand reaches out and grabs gently at his arm, turning him back around.

"What's your name?" The stranger asks, a smile on his face.

"Darren." He says, and he would have reached his hand out to shake the man's hand, but with all the books the man is holding, he wouldn't have been able to shake hands. "What's yours?"

The man's eyes widen for a brief second and a look close to shock washes over his face before he composes himself, giving Darren another one of his smiles. "I'm Chris. Chris Colfer."

Darren smiles at him, and they both just stand there, smiling at each other in the middle of the bookstore before Chris shakes his head and says, "I'm really sorry, but I have to go. It was nice meeting you, Darren."

"You too, Chris," Darren says, turning to watch Chris walk away. Darren doesn't mean to stare, but it happens, and Darren notices that Chris had somehow slipped on a pair of sunglasses before he'd walked out of the bookstore, which confuses him considering how cloudy it was outside at the moment.

But he shakes his head and continues over to the fairytale section of the bookstore.

* * *

Darren gets a book about mermaids that fascinates him right off the bat before he heads out into the streets, hoping to figure out where the hell he is.

The mystery of where and when he is sort of excites Darren, and he walks with an extra spring in his step, clutching his new book tightly to his chest, eyes roaming over the mystery city in awe and wonder. He waves at the people he passes, ever the friendly type, just wondering aimlessly around the city, hoping (god, he's hoping) for something new here.

Something different from all the other places he's been to.

He rounds a corner and sees some sort of café and immediately begins the trek across the street and into the busy little shop. It has a 50's vintage theme going for it, which makes Darren's lips curl up into a smile. While looking around the café for an empty seat he sees a familiar face and a stack of books on a table. Quickly, he orders is coffee and pays with what little he had left after paying for his book.

Chris jumps slightly when Darren plops down into the seat across from him. His eyes are wide with shock and what looks to Darren like fear, which confuses him, but he quickly says, "I'm sorry," and the fear is gone from his eyes, which makes Darren smile.

Chris gives him a nod, looking around the café like he's not quite sure what to do now. So, Darren takes it in his own hands. "Fancy meeting you here, Chris." He says, smiling and taking a sip of his coffee.

"It sure is," Chris chuckles, but it has as nervous hint to it.

They sit there for a few minutes in silence, sipping their coffee while everyone else in the café is up and chattering away. It makes Darren smile, sitting here in the middle of everyone else being loud and socializing. He looks at the large pile of books still stacked on the table, takes one last sip of his coffee and says, "What's with all the books?"

"I don't know," Chris says, shrugging and setting down is coffee. "I just like to read."

"Me too, but not usually this many books at the same time."

Chris rolls his eyes but laughs anyways. "Is your coffee empty?"

Darren nods and hands it over to Chris who gets up and throws both of their cups away before sitting back down and straightening out his pile of books slightly.

"What year is it?" Darren asks Chris, who looks up at him, eyebrows knit together.

He chuckles, though, shaking his head slightly. "Um, 2025. Why? Did you like, get in an accident and you don't remember anything but your name?" He asks, only slightly joking.

But, it makes Darren laugh nonetheless. "No—no accident. Just, didn't remember, I guess." He lies. And he hates lying about it. But Chris smiles at him and nods his head, believing Darren's lie. It hurts Darren, having to lie about something that is so much a part of him.

Darren sits there, trying to think of something to talk about, because really, the color of Chris's eyes and the pile of books sort of fascinates him and he wants to know more about Chris.

"I need to go," Chris says, smiling apologetically at Darren. He stands up and starts picking up his books. Darren jumps up and starts picking up a few of the books, carefully handing them to Chris. He can't help the goofy smile that takes over his face when their fingers brush, which makes Chris laugh as well.

"It was really nice meeting you," Darren pipes up, turning to face Chris who's now standing next to the door.

He flashes Darren a smile. Curiosity flickers over his features and he asks, "Do you not know who I am?"

Confused, Darren shakes his head no, eyebrows knit together. "Should I?"

With a hint of a smile on his face, Chris pushes the door open and says, "No," before walking out.


End file.
